Conner had a stern, overly serious expression on his face. Artemis knew he was incredibly unhappy in the suit, she knew he hated it, and she knew he was doing it for the only reason he ever would. Her. He was doing it to make her happy, taking her to the restaurant she'd pined over because she had pined over it. She was deliriously happy. A deliriously happy beautiful blond on the arm of a stern dark haired man was, fortunately, not an uncommon site to see filing into a Russian fine dining establishment so close to closing time. It actually fit right in with the rest of the crowd.

And indeed there was a crowd. It turned out that an after hours dinner service was being held and Conner had somehow secured them an invitation. Some of the people there looked extremely familiar but Artemis was intentionally avoiding trying to dredge up the information. Her first visit to the restaurant had been pursuant to a run in with a Russian organized crime syndicate, she had no doubt she would immediately recognize several people at such a gathering as the one she was now at. She didn't want to recognize them. She didn't want to work and if she noticed somebody important it would mean working. The job always had to come first, so it had to be managed from time to time. Unless one wanted to become Batman... she wasn't ready for that kind of thing and likely never would be. She liked other people too much.

They were seated and Conner slid a envelope over to their waiter who gave a brief bow and took the envelope as if that were the expectation all along. She gave Conner a questioning look. "The cover charge, for dinner and a show." And, indeed, there was a small stage at one end of the dining room. They'd gotten a decent seat but they were by no means in the front row. Third row with an unobstructed view was still no doubt valuable. "How much?" The question started out innocent but when Conner pretended not to hear it Artemis narrowed her eyes and repeated in a tone that brooked none of that nonsense. "Conner. How much?" He remained silent for several long heartbeats before responding simply with, "A lot. But it's supposed to be a very good show, just as good as the food."

Both turned out to be very good indeed. The meal was a one service situation, they brought out what they prepared. No menus, no choice, just the Chef's carefully crafted meal of the night. It was delicious, and about the time the main course was done a woman came onto the stage, prepared, and commanded complete silence from the diners as she sang unaccompanied in a way only a meta-human could ever hope to accomplish. It was almost like she had multiple voices, capable of carrying different notes and producing different melodies all at once. It was beautiful, uplifting, humbling, and haunting by turns. Dessert was a wax paper cone filled with chocolate dipped strawberries and a kindly escort to the door. Conner put Artemis' coat about her shoulders personally, and then they were out in the Russian cold. Yet, he didn't guide her back toward the zetatube. Instead, they found themselves in a small circular park centered on a statue of Tzar Nicholas II. Together they walked right past the statue and paused by a small pond lit from within by indirected lighting.

"Thank you Conner. This was beautiful.""I wanted you to remember tonight.""Oh, why's that?""I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore."

Artemis' jaw dropped and she took a step away so she could turn toward him, but before she could unleash whatever response was going to escape her shock first (even she would never be certain what that would have been) Conner turned to meet her and dropped to one knee. Her eyes got even wider as she realized what he was doing. No, she didn't grasp it, the thought didn't ring through her head as a fully formed sentence. No, only the concept splattered against the back wall of her brain space. "I want you toomph!"

Conner went down under the weight of Artemis, as she'd flung herself into him full bodied. "Yes yes yes yes, oh Conner! You ass, I love you!" All he could do was laugh and try to catch the kisses that came in between her words.

Artemis was breathless, and in more ways than one. Her heart had plummeted into the depths of despair when Conner had told her he didn't want her to be his girlfriend any more. She had visions of the days ahead without him, and the time blended into a swirling maelstrom of black and white, all the colour ebbing away. She wondered what she had done, how ahe had upset him, what had changed his mind, and nothing seemed to make sense as her mind raced over the last few days.

For a moment, she wanted to rail at him, to punch at his solid chest, knowing that it wouldn't even be felt, but it might make her feel better, anyway.

Artemis didn't even have the chance to process that thought, though. It had barely danced through her mind when Conner asked her to be his wife. The shock hit at the same moment that a word erupted from her throat unbidden.

"Yes!"

It was almost a squeal, a squeal of utter delight, and she flung her arms around his neck, kissing him as though their lives depended on it. When the kiss finally ended, her eyes were sparkling with unshed happy tears, and she rested her forehead against Conner's, not quite believing what he had just said.

"Really," she murmured, her voice even more husky than usual, shaking her head in the tiniest fashion. "You really mean it?"